ak2m4

Were you charged any local VAT? I suspect just like when you order from HK, that due to the amount of parcels coming in not all get stopped. This is especially true when going through the national carriers like Royal Mail / Parcel Force / EMS

800GBP? Do you have a screenshot of the actual invoice? Interesting to see. Very strange, "government charges" can't be VAT and Duty, too low. VAT alone would be £160.

exactly what @Sitting Duck says, don't throw too much money on it. Those micro-switches ain't the greatest so if you can fit a basic fet on one (think I saw a guide to fitting one somewhere). You have to open it up first to see what the issue is first.. I think I've got an old factory deformed stock tube somewhere together with an old stock that you can have for the price of p+p. I'll check around.

The problem is whilst you can "drop-in" a replacement gearbox, factors like nozzle length, hop chamber, outer barrel can all affect the alignment etc, thus affecting how it performs. Out of all the Chinese brands E&C make a decent QD complete gearbox for around £60 plus another £15 to upgrade the gears but can be tricky to get hold of.

Somebody told me that in Poland Airsoft replicas are exempt from VAT (23%) which in my mind doesn't sound right! I read (can't remember where) that someone got this info from TG themselves at a fair. As a test I've just gone through with a VPN to make an order on ZL currency and there's no mention of VAT. A CM.097E came to 1039zl (£202) Google currency conversion, however the same gun without a VPN, (so in the UK) came to £186. So that tells me there is a VAT reduction going on but it's only 8% difference? I did this real quick without logging in with my TG account so the numbers could be off, maths isn't my strong-point 🙂

I ordered an AEG from HK only late last year with no defense marked on the box, arrived no problem - some slip through, some don't. I've heard 1 in 10 are sent away to be checked. I'm still skeptical regarding how customs access the UKARA system. If you were one of the UK retailers who owned and operated that database would you allow UK customs to access it so potential customers can purchase outside the UK hmmmm. Going forward be nice to have a system where the sender could include a defense URL in the documentation or on the shipping label.

Just a couple remaining: https://www.ak2m4.co.uk/internal-parts/pistons-heads/ra-piston-head-pom

You're never going to make it that quiet, some people use sorbo pads but they in turn cause other issues.

@SSPKali when I last spoke to him he said he put the question to an airsoft group on FB but no one seemed that interested in such a system, all very negative! I did say FB probably not the greatest place to ask the question. GDPR questions never arose, far more interested in working out the technology side of things. The one-time URL that would expire is a nice touch and of course the ability to view your own information. Sadly I don't think he's continuing with the idea due to the negativity he experienced, I did recommend he just build a rough working concept and get a single site to trial it. Maybe it's worth me reaching out to him, be interested to know what others think; constructive ideas etc.

Sure it's a big problem, I was chatting to an app developer I used to work with and he was looking into developing an alternative system, not spoke to him for a while but I liked the ideas he was putting forward. Basically register on website / app, then app on phone with QR code get scanned when you play, when you want to prove your defense you can give out a one-time passcode / URL to view the info.

I've got the same one, purchased it about 10 years ago from a HK store. Are you looking to sell?

So all you had to do is upload a picture of a photo ID, upload a picture of you in a costume, and pay your £20 ?

crack that sucker 🙂, those Lonex can be right f**kers though if it has the QD stock tube

spring power doesn't degrade from being sat in storage, if anything it's the other way round. If it's a massive jump then might be worth opening it up to see if everything is working as it should. Generally though you can clip off a coil, or heat some coils and press them closer together reducing the overall length of the spring. A few different ways depending how much over you are.

@Roscoc where in the UK are you?

@padraigthesniper for the ZCI hop chamber make sure you apply a bit of silicon grease to the oring, this helps to make the larger wheel easier to move

I wouldn't worry about it too much Ron, just sit back, relax and wait for it to drop. You'll forget all about it and then it will arrive and will be a nice little surprise haha. In all honestly Aliexpress on the whole is pretty good for refunds and disputes. Disputes do take a while till you can active. I've got one on the go at the moment, small item ordered on the 29th Oct, no show, tomorrow I can dispute, so 10 weeks in total...

haha yep, every single Chinese supplier I deal with sends me messages over Xmas saying if you want anything now you best make order otherwise could be end of Feb till they ship anything out.

Super busy time for them at the moment, I imagine there was a rush of orders before Jan 1st to avoid the extra 20%.

What's this link for buddy? Pretty sure the info is out of date. Fully understand the new threshold limits, interested to understand how the payments work from the retailers perspective.

I'm assuming this as well. Just made a couple of 10USD Aliexpress orders and notice 20% UK VAT added to both. Normally those items would sale through HMRC without any fees, now the UK gov guaranteed to get its 4USD . I can't see HMRC adding duty and handling fees in the UK otherwise may as well kept the VAT parts - but who knows. I'm sure they are gearing up for adding duty as well. Chinese can't be happy about this..

Such good news....Occasionally you'd come across a useful bit of information but it's search functionality always felt like it was an after-thought. It's not a platform geared towards information storage. As for the sponsored and suggested posts every 2 normal post, no thank you...

Yup, I wonder what the deal is on duty and handling charges. Are they just going to waive all duty and let everything slip by in the knowledge that the government is pocketing an extra 20% ? Going to be an interesting time for sure.

Yup Chinese retailers now have to charge and pay up front the VAT of the destination country. I ordered a pair of gloves from Aliexpress last night and when you click the BUY button you're suddenly charged 20% extra. It's not a Brexit thing as the whole of the EU is affected, same in New Zealand as well I believe from what a friend has said. This change has been in the planning for a number of years I read.

Thanks man be sure to check out the spring thread, have updated it with some info